FDA Investigating Outbreak of Hepatitis A Possibly Linked to Strawberries

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other officials are looking into an outbreak of Hepatitis A possibly connected to organic strawberries.

In the post on its website dated Saturday, the administration’s officials said:

The FDA, along with CDC, the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, state, and local partners are investigating a multistate outbreak of hepatitis A infections in the United States and Canada potentially linked to fresh organic strawberries branded as FreshKampo and HEB, purchased between March 5, 2022, and April 25, 2022.

The illness was described as a very contagious liver infection caused by the Hepatitis A virus, “one of several types of hepatitis viruses that cause inflammation and affect your liver’s ability to function,” the Mayo Clinic’s website said.

People were most likely to contract the illness from contaminated food, water, or being in close contact with someone or something that was already infected.

“Mild cases of hepatitis A don’t require treatment. Most people who are infected recover completely with no permanent liver damage,” the site continued.

Some signs of hepatitis included fatigue, sudden nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain, clay-colored bowel movements, dark urine, joint pain, and intense itching.

Symptoms may endure for approximately two months, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.

The FDA’s announcement continued:

Currently, the potentially affected FreshKampo and HEB products are past shelf life. People who purchased FreshKampo and HEB fresh organic strawberries between March 5, 2022, and April 25, 2022, and then froze those strawberries for later consumption should not eat them.

The products were sold to customers at stores including Aldi, HEB, Kroger, Safeway, Sprouts Farmers Market, Trader Joe’s, Walmart, Weis Markets, and WinCo Foods.

“The traceback investigations show that cases in California, Minnesota, and Canada report having purchased fresh organic strawberries branded as FreshKampo or HEB prior to becoming ill. Illness onset dates range from March 28 – April 30, 2022,” the agency said.

The FDA noted the investigation was ongoing and recommended that consumers, restaurants, and stores should not sell, serve or eat strawberries branded FreshKampo or HEB if they were purchased between the March and April dates.